Forum Discussion
Stop automatic text-to-columns formatting
This morning I was pasting text into excel and using Text-to-Columns to parse it. Later, in a different file, I was pasting other text that I did not want parsed into different columns. But excel is automatically separating it. It is messing up my file formatting and forcing me to manually recombine the text into a single column. I can't find anywhere in the options that will stop this from happening. Any suggestions? Text-to-Columns should not be an automatic function.
Sometimes, Excel is too clever for its own good.
Select an empty cell.
On the Data tab of the ribbon, click Text to Columns.
Select Delimited, then click Next >.
Clear the check boxes of all delimiters.
Click Finish.
The problem should be gone (until the next time...)
Sometimes, Excel is too clever for its own good.
Select an empty cell.
On the Data tab of the ribbon, click Text to Columns.
Select Delimited, then click Next >.
Clear the check boxes of all delimiters.
Click Finish.
The problem should be gone (until the next time...)
Selected an empty cell, then clicked Text to Columns ... ERROR: no data selected to parse. I really need Excel to stop auto Text to columns my CSV files as I happen to need leading zeros like it is in the csv file.
The Import from CSV file doesn't do anything different. It imports into a window where its already converted a text field with leading zeros into a number and you can't change it. The only thing you can change is if the delimiter is a comma.
Any help setting up Excel to just display the csv file in column A like it did the first time would be appreciated, thanks.
P_A_R_K_Y : Just type something into an empty cell, do the Text To Columns with a strange character like a tilde (top left corner of keyboard). THEN bring in your CSV data.
So I've seen this solution in two places, but when I try 'text to columns' on an empty cell, I get this error message: "No data was selected to parse"
- Ok so I have to put a space in that cell first to do that. Ok - thank you!
HansVogelaar
you don't need to click FINISH.... you can just press ESC (it feels weird but it works)
